Abstract
BackgroundLychas mucronatus is one scorpion species widely distributed in Southeast Asia and southern China. Anything is hardly known about its venom components, despite the fact that it can often cause human accidents. In this work, we performed a venomous gland transcriptome analysis by constructing and screening the venom gland cDNA library of the scorpion Lychas mucronatus from Yunnan province and compared it with the previous results of Hainan-sourced Lychas mucronatus.ResultsA total of sixteen known types of venom peptides and proteins are obtained from the venom gland cDNA library of Yunnan-sourced Lychas mucronatus, which greatly increase the number of currently reported scorpion venom peptides. Interestingly, we also identified nineteen atypical types of venom molecules seldom reported in scorpion species. Surprisingly, the comparative transcriptome analysis of Yunnan-sourced Lychas mucronatus and Hainan-sourced Lychas mucronatus indicated that enormous diversity and vastly abundant difference could be found in venom peptides and proteins between populations of the scorpion Lychas mucronatus from different geographical regions.ConclusionsThis work characterizes a large number of venom molecules never identified in scorpion species. This result provides a comparative analysis of venom transcriptomes of the scorpion Lychas mucronatus from different geographical regions, which thoroughly reveals the fact that the venom peptides and proteins of the same scorpion species from different geographical regions are highly diversified and scorpion evolves to adapt a new environment by altering the primary structure and abundance of venom peptides and proteins.
Highlights
Lychas mucronatus is one scorpion species widely distributed in Southeast Asia and southern China
The results reveal the fact that both the primary structure and abundance of venom peptides are quite different in the same scorpion species from different geographical regions
Morphological comparison of two Lychas mucronatus populations Lychas mucronatus is one scorpion species widely distributed in Southeast Asia
Summary
Lychas mucronatus is one scorpion species widely distributed in Southeast Asia and southern China. More than 400 million years of evolution does not make the scorpions alter their morphology This one of the oldest arachnid is highly conserved in shape all along, they occupy vast territory of the world from Africa to Asia, Australia and America. Such powerful adaptability mostly owes to their highly specialized venom apparatus which consists of the vesicle holding a pair of venom glands connected to the stinger used to inject the venom [1]. To the best of our knowledge, the transcriptomic approach is more effective in getting an overview of scorpion venom. Because it can reflect the biological processes inside the venom gland cells, and provides clues to the research of evolutionary path leading to scorpion toxin diversification directly [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call